Battle of Marais
The Battle of Marais was the one of battle during the Japanese-Empire War, as well as the Imperial Civil War. This battle was the attempt by Zorzal and his generals to stop the JSDF attack on their territory. Although succeeded in causing damage to the JSDF by surprise and overwhelming numbers, this was indeed a Pyrrhic but most of all extremely short term victory that only caused minor damage to the JSDF reconnaissance units while suffered heavy losses and had little influence on their advance efforts. In addition, this battle also caused the internal government of Zorzal to disintegrate due to the fact that Zorzal's true intention used the forces here to distract JSDF while in fact the main force attacked Italica in his desperation to win the war against the Loyalist, leaving ambush units to be mowed down by JSDF's superior firepower from machine gun and heavy weapons. This leads to internal distrust between Zorzal and pro-war senators and generals since he promised them to send them reinforcement. As the result, some of the pro-war senators surrender the JSDF after realizing they were made into Zorzal's meat shield the whole time. Preparation of the two sides The Marais is a land with high mountains and sacred forests. In the south there is a mountainous area called Beza. These are the two locations where JSDF and Zorzal's forces were engaged. -Zorzal's force: Through the countdown, Zorzal learned of the JSDF's forthcoming offensive and decided to send half of its forces to the Marais. Some new tactics have been used, such as digging holes to trap tanks and JSDF armor (Marais), using Wywern to drop a chain into the helicopter propeller that causes them to fall (Beza). They hope to block the JSDF by overwhelming the number of soldiers as well as applying new methods of attack. -JSDF: This campaign is made for the purpose of retrieving the Imperial Capital. To do this, General Hazama ordered the 1st and 4th Combat Teams to attack and disable the fortress of Zorzal between Italica and Capital. Team 1 will attack along the road to Fort Fyue, while Team 4 will attack enemy ground forces in the Beza Valley. Furuta warns of a large force of Zorzal around these two locations, so the attack mobilized a variety of JSDF heavy weapons to eliminate all the advantages of Zorzal's forces. However, the reconnaissance of the JSDF caused the JSDF to suffer unnecessary casualties during the battle, although they manage to mow down vast amount of Zorzal's force with their guns and armored vehicle.. Battles * Fight around Marais: 1st Combat Unit (CO Colonel Kuze) vs Imperial Ground Legion (CO Count Woody) ** Enemy ground forces are spotted in the open by OH-1 on reconnaissance duty. JSDF uses aerial spotting to aid Type 75 artillery in directing fire. The enemy forces retreat into the forest, where they cannot be directly observed.. ** Infantry are sent into the forest to smoke out the Imperials. They encounter camouflaged Imperial soldiers and “Scopedogs”—heavily armored and shielded ogres which are immune to light arms. Japan sustains at least one or a small group of soldiers injured (May have been killed - in the worst case) by stray arrow and Orge attacks but is able to force the enemy to retreat again by firing their rifle grenade to kill several Ogres and calls artillery strike to decimate vast amount of ambushed Imperial Troop. ** Kuze notices that the enemy infantry is not scattering, but is instead moving towards a location to the West between “Peak 1 and Peak 2” (one of which is Beza). Since this is a region without trees and ogres have been identified as a threat, armored units are sent to pursue, including the Type 74 MBT, the Type 60 Tank Destroyer, Komatsu LAVs, Type 87 Recon/Patrol vehicles and one or more Type 82 Communication Vehicle. If other vehicles are included, they are not mentioned. ** While in pursuit, a Type 87 breaks through the top of a camouflaged infantry trench. Now in close range, a disguised force of Zorzal’s forces emerge and attack the vehicles at close range only to be mowed down by firearms and their weapon cannot make a dent to JSDF's armored vehicle. Besides standard infantry and Scopedogs, the enemy employs war elephants and rhinos, battering rams, and flaming wagons pushed down the slopes of the mountains. The attack is at such close range that enemy infantry are climbing aboard the outside of the vehicles before the crews aboard can counter them. This means that, in addition to being boxed in on three sides, they are in the midst of enemy forces and there is a threat of friendly fire. However, due to their primitive weapon, they can only cause cosmetic damage to the vehicle and some vehicles manage to shoot down their enemies or shake them off. ** The JSDF C.O. quickly regains control, but the situation remains dire. Imperial anti-tank units including battering rams and war beasts manage to damage several Humvee by smashing with great force large enough to force or throw out the soldiers within, who are forced into the open and form “fighting squares.” However, JSDF tanks still functional perfectly and manage to kill several beasts and battering ram with their tank cannon. ** The Imperials are continuing to overwhelm the JSDF with superior numbers but sustains massive casualties due to their human wave attack. General Woody ordered to hold JSDF forces long enough for Zorzal to provide reinforcements without knowing that he and the rest of his troop were being used as meat shield in the first place. * Fight on Beza valley: 4th Combat (C.O. Lt. Colonel Kengun, King Duran) vs Imperial Wyvren Legion (C.O. Count Podawan) * Combat and troop transport helicopters fly down the pass on course for Fortress Fyue. They are flying low, presumably to reduce the chance of being spotted by the fortress defenses during approach. The helicopters are attacked from above and at close range by Wywrens. Some Wywren drop metal chain nets onto the main rotors of some helicopters. This method is not normally employed in modern warfare, but could work in theory. At lease 1 helicopter ( a UH-1 or CH-47) has fallen. * Wyvren continue assault with archery tools. Helicopters take evasive maneuvers. With enemy units above and beside them, and crashed helicraft needing assistance below them, the 4th is pinned. Aftermath Category:Events Category:Battles